Patent Application
20210325138
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This application relates to dust or weather protection covers for firearms. All firearms have a means for loading the firearm. In breach loading firearms, that means comprises an opening at the end of the barrel opposite the muzzle. Openings at or near the barrel of a firearm pose safety and reliability risks. If foreign material enters the action or barrel, it may obstruct the barrel and, when the firearms is discharged, an obstructed barrel may cause the firearm to explode. Further, if foreign material enters the receiver of a firearm, it may interfere with loading a cartridge into the action, closing the bolt, operating the trigger, or other critical operation. Moisture, such as rain or snow, entering the receiver, action, or magazine of a firearm may also render primer or propellant inert or unreliable. For these reasons and others, many firearms are equipped with a dust door cover.
dust door covers are fairly common on semi-automatic military rifles and fairly uncommon on bolt-action rifles. A dust door cover is generally connected to the receiver or action of a firearm and is usually movable such the firearm may be used without removing the dust door cover. A dust door cover is frequently displaced by the movement of the bolt. Many dust door covers are biased open with a retention feature which allows the cover to be secured in a closed position until displaced at which time the dust door cover remains open unless/until manually closed.
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A movable firearm breach dust door cover not attached to the receiver or action of a firearm.
The present invention is a dust door cover system for a breach-loading firearm. The dust door cover is not attached to the receiver of the firearm. The receiver of a firearm is generally defined as “that part of a firearm which provides housing for the hammer, bolt or breechblock, and firing mechanism, and which is usually threaded at its forward portion to receive the barrel.” The action of a firearm is “the part of a firearm that loads fires, and ejects a cartridge.”
Although dust door covers are common on semi-automatic firearms, dust door covers are uncommon on bolt-action firearms. This is due to several factors including the following: the large variety of stocks (or chassis), actions, and combinations thereof, and the difficulty locating a suitable retention point on a generally cylindrical tubular action.
The present invention comprises a dust door cover 100 not attached to either of the action 110 or receiver of a firearm. In a preferred embodiment, the dust door cover 100 is generally planar. In an alternative embodiment, the dust door cover 100 has a vertical cross section which is generally the arc of a circle.
The present invention preferably further comprises stock/chassis attachment means. In a preferred embodiment, the stock/chassis attachment means comprise a plurality of pins 102.
In a preferred embodiment, the dust door cover 100 further comprises features which cooperatively interact with stock/chassis attachment means 102. In a preferred embodiment, these features comprise a plurality of holes 112 in the dust door cover lying in the same plane, or one generally parallel to that, defined by the dust door cover. In a preferred embodiment, the plurality of pins 102 of the stock/chassis attachment means pass through the plurality of holes 112 in the dust door cover 100.
In a preferred embodiment, the present invention further comprises stock/chassis attachment means of a stock or chassis 106 of the firearm. In a preferred embodiment, these stock/chassis attachment means comprise a plurality of holes 114 in the stock or chassis. In a preferred embodiment, the plurality of pins 102 of the stock/chassis attachment means pass through the plurality of holes 114 in the stock or chassis of the firearm thereby attaching the dust door cover 100 to the stock or chassis 106.
In a preferred embodiment, the dust door cover 100 of the present invention further comprises door securement features operable to retain the dust door cover in a closed position covering an ejection port 118 of a firearm. In a preferred embodiment, the door securement features comprise a detent 200, a detent biasing member 202, and a detent retention feature 204. In a preferred embodiment, the detent 200 is biased by the detent biasing member 202 in an extended configuration and captured by the detent retention feature 204. In a preferred embodiment, the detent 200 is configured to be blocked from opening when the detent 200 is in an extended configuration by detent blocking features 206 of the receiver/action. The size of the detent blocking features 206 of the receiver or action 110, the detent 200, and the degree of travel of the detent and detent biasing member are selected such that the detent blocking features 206 of the receiver/action 110 prevent movement of the dust door cover 100 when the detent 200 is in an extended position and the detent blocking features 206 of the receiver/action 110 does not prevent movement of the dust door cover 100 when the detent 200 is in a retracted position.
In a preferred embodiment, the dust door cover 100 of the present invention further comprises automatic deactivation features. In a preferred embodiment, the automatic deactivation features comprise a protrusion 116 away from the plane of the dust door cover 100 on the side of the dust door cover 100 configured to face the receiver or action 110 when closed.
In a preferred embodiment, the bolt of the firearm comprises automatic dust door deactivation features. In a preferred embodiment, the automatic dust door deactivation features of the bolt configure a protrusion configured to contact and displace deactivation features 116 of the dust door cover 100 when the bolt of the firearm moves into or out of battery and which do not contact or displace deactivation features of the dust door cover when the bolt of the firearm is in battery or completely open. In a preferred embodiment, the dust door deactivation features further comprise manual dust door deactivation features. In a preferred embodiment, the manual dust door deactivation features comprise an extension of the dust door cover 100 which extends away from the receiver/action 110 of the firearm when the dust door cover 100 is closed configured such that a user may grasp the manual dust door deactivation feature and move the dust door cover 100 from a closed position to an open position.
In a preferred embodiment, the present invention further comprises dust door cover position biasing features. In a preferred embodiment, the dust door cover position biasing features comprise a spring 104. In a preferred embodiment, the dust door cover position biasing features 104 bias the dust door cover 100 to be open. In an alternative embodiment, the dust door cover position biasing features bias the dust door cover 100 to be closed. In a preferred embodiment, a leg of the spring 104 rests against the chassis/stock 106 of the firearm. In a preferred embodiment, a second leg of the spring 104 rests against the dust door cover 100.
For purposes of this application, including claims, plurality means one or more unless clearly indicated otherwise.
This application claims priority to provisional application 63/010,486 filed on Apr. 15, 2020.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63010486 | Apr 2020 | US |
